Brothers in law: Keuning brothers police Ottawa County

Saturday

Dec 2, 2017 at 8:01 AM

Audra Gamble @sentinelAudraAudra Gamble @SentinelAudra

One night in the early 2000s, Ottawa County Sheriff's Office Deputy Cal Keuning found himself on Butternut Drive in Holland, pointing his gun at a vehicle during a high-risk felony police stop. As other police agencies joined the fray, Keuning noticed the barrel of a shotgun pop up next to him.

From behind, he heard a voice call out, "Hey, Cal, how are you doing?"

Turning around, Keuning saw his younger brother, Dan, backing him up on the call.

"I'll never forget that," Cal said. "I said, 'Hey, Dan,' and then turned back around and yelled at the driver to put their hands up."

More than a decade later, Cal is now a road patrol sergeant for the sheriff's office and Dan is a community policing officer for the Holland Department of Public Safety.

Born and raised in Holland, graduating from Holland Christian schools, the brothers have been keeping citizens of Ottawa County safe together for 16 years.

Dan, who is five years younger than Cal, was the first of the two brothers to have an interest in law enforcement. While in high school, Dan enrolled in the Holland police cadet program. Around the same time, Cal was working as a paramedic in Grand Haven and Holland. While working with the sheriff's office at medical emergencies, Cal took an interest in policing.

Though being a police officer was Dan's idea first, his older brother beat him to the punch, getting deputized in January of 2000. The next year, Dan became a full-time officer for the city of Holland.

"We share the same radio frequencies, so we're always scanning, listening for each other," Dan said. "Ottawa County is our brother to the north and with us, truly it is a brotherhood. That's kind of cool.

"It's a brotherhood with all my brothers in blue and his in brown, but with us, it's a little unique."

Cal is now a road patrol sergeant for the county, but he maintains his paramedic status and is a member of the county's dive team, which he used to be in charge of. As a community policing officer, Dan instructs the Junior Police Academy, Citizen Police Academy, gives safety demonstrations at schools and community events and focuses on the community relationship with police.

While Cal likes supervising his squad of deputies throughout the county, there is one part of his brother's job that makes Cal jealous.

"I am a little jealous of the ice cream truck," Cal said, referring to Holland Department of Public Safety's new "Operation Polar Patrol" ice cream truck that debuted this summer at community events, allowing officers to hand out free ice cream to Holland residents.

"Dan gets to serve ice cream, that's a fun job," Cal said. "But right now, the good lord has me in road patrol, and I'm enjoying that. I truly have been blessed."

For the brothers, their Christian faith and desire to serve others has led them to their careers. Their middle brother, Brian, also serves the public as a teacher.

"The way we grew up, mom and dad were very religious with their Christianity," Dan said. "It's made me the man I am today, it's very important."

As a sergeant, Cal is sometimes called in to gruesome car crash scenes. In those moments, he hopes he can serve the community he grew up with.

"I love helping people, I really do," Cal said. "From the medic side, cops side, we see a lot of weird stuff, but I love to be there and help them out. That's why it's cool to be part of this area.

"There are times when, being a sergeant now, I'm on calls where someone dies. I've prayed with families that wanted to, and I'll do that with them. They just lost their loved one, I'm going to be with them."

While the brothers keep an eye out for each other over the radio and the county-wide police computer system, their parents are watching over their sons too.

"They're very proud," Cal said. "Dad used to have the scanner going all the time, listening. I know at home, mom's got our work hours on the calendar so they know when we're working."

The Keuning's parents still live in Holland, dropping off treats and checking in with their sons. Before sitting down with The Sentinel for an interview, Cal grabbed a container of bran muffins and a hand-addressed card his mom left at the Holland Police Department to celebrate his 45th birthday.

It's not uncommon for family members to follow in their parents' footsteps and become involved in law enforcement, but Cal and Dan are the first generation of their family to become involved in police work. Considering both brothers have children, though, they may be laying the groundwork for a new Keuning tradition.

"Maybe we're starting something for our family," Cal said. "My youngest, Johnny, would love to be a police officer someday like daddy, but he's only 10. Right now, it's just us two brothers."

While their children grow up and find their own passions, the Keunings are happy to be patrolling the same county as their brother and keeping Ottawa County safe.

"I grew up here, I used to play in all these streets," Dan said. "To work here and start here, it's an honor to stay here in Holland, the city I grew up in. I know Cal is very proud of Ottawa County, too."

Agreeing, Cal said he enjoys being able to patrol a county he's familiar with.

"We know a lot of people in the area, I love it," he said. "It's so cool to be in the community because we know it so well."

—Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelAudra.

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